The Search for Verner Lindbäck

THE SEARCH FOR VERNER LINDBÄCK
OLLE CARLSSON
Ola Lindbäck, an engineer in Umeå, made up his mind to find
out what happened to his grandfather, Verner Lindbäck, who
emigrated in 1906, at the age of 34 from Siknäs, Nederkalix
parish, to the United States. Behind him he left his wife and
six children.
After some years of correspondence with his home in Siknäs
nothing further was heard of him. He was one of the many
Swedish emigrants who disappeared into the American immi­grant
jungle. After twenty-five years, on 17 June 1931, he was
declared legally dead by the district court in Kalix: "he was to
be considered deceased and 31 December 1931 was to be taken
as the date of death," according to the court records.
In an article in Västerbottens-Kuriren for 6 June 1975, 1 wrote
at some length about the mystery of Verner Lindbäck and grand­son
Ola's efforts to trace his grandfather. It was there stated
that the last sure indication that Verner Lindbäck was still alive
dated back to April 1910, when he was working as a driller for
the Oliver Iron Company in the mining town of Hibbing, Min­nesota,
not far from Duluth. Since then Ola Lindbäck's efforts
have produced remarkable results. It is probable that his grand­father,
Verner Lindbäck, was still living when he was declared
dead in 1931.
Verner had an older brother, Peter, who had emigrated al­ready
in 1880. The two brothers were reunited in America and
Peter probably helped Verner to get started when the latter
arrived there. There is a typical "America-portrait" of the two
together, taken around 1907. The Directory of Range Towns
for that year lists both brothers as laborers for the Duluth, Mis¬
sabe & Northern Railroad, boarding with E. J. E. Spongberg in
Hibbing. In 1909 Peter Lindbeck was listed as a drill helper
in Hibbing.
Peter died on 14 May 1914 in a boarding house in Hibbing,
where he happened to be staying at the time. Ola Lindbäck
82
Verner Lindbäck (left) with his older brother, Per-Olof
(Peter). Taken around 1907.
has obtained the death certificate, in which the meager facts
about the deceased were provided by Mrs. E. Swanson. In the
Hibbing Tribune for 15 May 1914 Ola Lindbäck has found a
notice on the death, containing the following interesting bit of
information: "Lindbeck has a brother, Varmar, who is employed
by the Oliver Diamond Drilling Company in Biwabik. A card
was found among the deceased's effects bearing the name, N. P.
Cronberg, 47 Clough Avenue, Superior [Wisconsin]." Biwabik
is another of the smaller communities around Duluth and brother
Varmar was naturally Verner.
The curious thing is that the authorities did not obtain any
information for the death certificate from Verner but relied in­stead
upon Mrs. E. Swanson from Coleraine, yet another small
community in the area. Through the death notice Ola Lind­bäck
obtained clear evidence that Verner Lindbäck was living
83
and employed in 1914. Three years later the Directory of Range
Towns show that Verner Lindbeck, drill runner, was residing
at 67 Hartley Location, Chisholm, Minnesota. The same source
lists a known friend of his from his home parish, Nils-Johan
(John) Sandberg, in Hibbing in 1907, 1910, 1915, and 1917.
But Ola Lindbäck was to learn more. The 1975 article in
Västerbottens-Kuriren was printed in abbreviated or rewritten
versions in various Swedish and Swedish-American newspapers
which are read by old emigrants. It appeared, among other
places, in Kvällsstunden, which is published in Västerås but
has a certain distribution in Swedish America. A 73-year-old
emigrant by the name of Robert G. Carlson from Minneapolis,
Minnesota, while on a visit to a brother-in-law in Fritsla, Väs­tergötland,
happened to see "The Lindbäck Mystery" in Kvälls­stunden.
A part of the story is that Ola Lindbäck had early
heard it rumored that Verner Lindbäck had been nicknamed
"The Lapp" in America. On 26 July 1975 Robert G. Carlson
wrote the following to Ola Lindbäck:
I met a fellow they called "The Lapp" in Minneapolis
in 1924. He lived in a room in Minneapolis on Washington
Avenue. And he was around that age. I was up to his room,
he lived together with another man. I met him in the street
sometimes.
Some months later Peter Edward Johnson sat in Minneapolis
and read about the vanished Verner Lindbäck in Svenska Ameri¬
kanaren-Tribunen, published in Chicago. Memories came back
and he wrote to Ola Lindbäck:
I got to know him in a restaurant on Washington Avenue.
He owned a two-story house and rented out the upper floor.
Whether he was married I don't know. I seem to remember
that his wife had passed away. He was a quiet man, didn't
talk much about his life. Once when I took him home in
my car he told me that he came from Lappland. He liked
a few beers but I never saw him drunk. He was a powerful
man, weighed around 175 pounds, a bit dark in coloring,
and very quiet in his behavior. After I married and got a
home of my own I saw him only a couple of times. . . . he
also mentioned Hibbing and the mines there.
Johnson is unsure of the dates but believes it must have been
around 1929 to 1933 that he used to see Verner—or "The Lapp,"
the only name he knew him by.
64
Ola Lindbäck continued to correspond with the two emi­grants
who had met his grandfather. The 80-year-old Johnson
in particular has provided further details which leave no doubt
that the person he knew was identical with Verner Lindbäck
from Siknäs. This is shown, among other things, by what "The
Lapp" said about conditions in his native village.
In order to track down further facts Ola Lindbäck enlisted
the aid of the airline pilot, Carl-Werner Pettersson, who in the
fall of 1975 discussed on a Swedish television program his own
search for relatives in Sunrise, Minnesota. [See Carl-Werner
Pettersson, "From Brinkelid to Sunrise—A Modern Saga of
Discovery," S P H Q . , 25 (1974), 34-61 ED.] On a visit to Min­neapolis
in December 1975, Pettersson interviewed people and
drove around the area in question together with Robert Carl­son
and P. E. Johnson, who had never met each other previously.
When Robert Carlson met "The Lapp" in 1924, he lived in
a house on Washington Square, on Washington Avenue at the
corner of Seventh Street. He was then probably unemployed.
It was during Prohibition and there was some "moonshine" on
hand.
Bit by bit P. E. Johnson filled in the picture. He became ac­quainted
with "The Lapp" in 1929. The Depression had struck,
they were out of work, and like so many other Swedes they
hung out in the cafes on Cedar Avenue, Minneapolis' "Snoose
Boulevard." Verner Lindbäck owned a house, since torn down,
on East 18th Street, near 15th Avenue, and kept company with,
among others, a certain Bergkvist, who had been a clergyman
in Chicago and died some years ago. Their favorite saloon was
Juel's Place, a few blocks from Seventh and Washington. Both
"The Lapp's" house and the saloon thus lay not far from the
place where he was living when Robert Carlson had met him
in 1924.
There are naturally many rumors and loose bits of informa­tion
which Ola Lindbäck has come across in his search for his
grandfather. Acquaintances of P. E. Johnson's mentioned that
a John Larsson and his brother had known "The Lapp." Accord­ing
to John Larsson, "The Lapp" was supposed to have lived
with or been married to a woman of Indian background, "a
good-looking and cleanly woman." Johnson has also pointed
85
OLA LINDBÄCK
out that Verner Lindbäck was not the type to belong to any
church or society, but that he was a good man who generally
kept to himself. P. E. Johnson last met "The Lapp" in 1933
or 1934.
Thus far has Ola Lindbäck come with his detective work. He
has had help from many persons. One he mentions above all:
Faye Stipek, the daughter of Axel Wikström, who emigrated
86
from Roknäs, Piteå. He came into contact with her during a
visit to Seattle in the summer of 1975.
It is an immense effort that Ola Lindbäck has put into his
search for information about what happened to Verner Lind­bäck.
He has files filled with correspondence with public of­ficials,
institutions, and private individuals. But he feels that
now he has evidence that his grandfather was living as late as
the early 1930s in Minneapolis there must surely be persons
who could give definite information. Court records, telephone
catalogs, personal and property registers have thus far produced
no results.
During the early '30s Minneapolis was a city full of Swedes
and Verner Lindbäck, "The Lapp," hung out in the Swedish
areas. There must be others, besides Robert Carlsson and Peter
Edward Johnson, who knew him.
Ola Lindbäck has not given up. For Ida Lindbäck and her
six children in Siknäs her husband Verner's emigration to the
United States was a tragedy. Ola Lindbäck wants to know what
happened and he would be naturally grateful for further clues
or suggestions.
( T r a n s l a t e d by H. ARNOLD BARTON)
EDITOR'S NOTE
Ola Lindbäck is an electrical engineer, who in 1948-51 lived in Seattle,
Washington, and Anchorage, Alaska. His address is: Svampvägen 24, S-902
34 Umeå, Sweden.
67

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THE SEARCH FOR VERNER LINDBÄCK
OLLE CARLSSON
Ola Lindbäck, an engineer in Umeå, made up his mind to find
out what happened to his grandfather, Verner Lindbäck, who
emigrated in 1906, at the age of 34 from Siknäs, Nederkalix
parish, to the United States. Behind him he left his wife and
six children.
After some years of correspondence with his home in Siknäs
nothing further was heard of him. He was one of the many
Swedish emigrants who disappeared into the American immi­grant
jungle. After twenty-five years, on 17 June 1931, he was
declared legally dead by the district court in Kalix: "he was to
be considered deceased and 31 December 1931 was to be taken
as the date of death," according to the court records.
In an article in Västerbottens-Kuriren for 6 June 1975, 1 wrote
at some length about the mystery of Verner Lindbäck and grand­son
Ola's efforts to trace his grandfather. It was there stated
that the last sure indication that Verner Lindbäck was still alive
dated back to April 1910, when he was working as a driller for
the Oliver Iron Company in the mining town of Hibbing, Min­nesota,
not far from Duluth. Since then Ola Lindbäck's efforts
have produced remarkable results. It is probable that his grand­father,
Verner Lindbäck, was still living when he was declared
dead in 1931.
Verner had an older brother, Peter, who had emigrated al­ready
in 1880. The two brothers were reunited in America and
Peter probably helped Verner to get started when the latter
arrived there. There is a typical "America-portrait" of the two
together, taken around 1907. The Directory of Range Towns
for that year lists both brothers as laborers for the Duluth, Mis¬
sabe & Northern Railroad, boarding with E. J. E. Spongberg in
Hibbing. In 1909 Peter Lindbeck was listed as a drill helper
in Hibbing.
Peter died on 14 May 1914 in a boarding house in Hibbing,
where he happened to be staying at the time. Ola Lindbäck
82
Verner Lindbäck (left) with his older brother, Per-Olof
(Peter). Taken around 1907.
has obtained the death certificate, in which the meager facts
about the deceased were provided by Mrs. E. Swanson. In the
Hibbing Tribune for 15 May 1914 Ola Lindbäck has found a
notice on the death, containing the following interesting bit of
information: "Lindbeck has a brother, Varmar, who is employed
by the Oliver Diamond Drilling Company in Biwabik. A card
was found among the deceased's effects bearing the name, N. P.
Cronberg, 47 Clough Avenue, Superior [Wisconsin]." Biwabik
is another of the smaller communities around Duluth and brother
Varmar was naturally Verner.
The curious thing is that the authorities did not obtain any
information for the death certificate from Verner but relied in­stead
upon Mrs. E. Swanson from Coleraine, yet another small
community in the area. Through the death notice Ola Lind­bäck
obtained clear evidence that Verner Lindbäck was living
83
and employed in 1914. Three years later the Directory of Range
Towns show that Verner Lindbeck, drill runner, was residing
at 67 Hartley Location, Chisholm, Minnesota. The same source
lists a known friend of his from his home parish, Nils-Johan
(John) Sandberg, in Hibbing in 1907, 1910, 1915, and 1917.
But Ola Lindbäck was to learn more. The 1975 article in
Västerbottens-Kuriren was printed in abbreviated or rewritten
versions in various Swedish and Swedish-American newspapers
which are read by old emigrants. It appeared, among other
places, in Kvällsstunden, which is published in Västerås but
has a certain distribution in Swedish America. A 73-year-old
emigrant by the name of Robert G. Carlson from Minneapolis,
Minnesota, while on a visit to a brother-in-law in Fritsla, Väs­tergötland,
happened to see "The Lindbäck Mystery" in Kvälls­stunden.
A part of the story is that Ola Lindbäck had early
heard it rumored that Verner Lindbäck had been nicknamed
"The Lapp" in America. On 26 July 1975 Robert G. Carlson
wrote the following to Ola Lindbäck:
I met a fellow they called "The Lapp" in Minneapolis
in 1924. He lived in a room in Minneapolis on Washington
Avenue. And he was around that age. I was up to his room,
he lived together with another man. I met him in the street
sometimes.
Some months later Peter Edward Johnson sat in Minneapolis
and read about the vanished Verner Lindbäck in Svenska Ameri¬
kanaren-Tribunen, published in Chicago. Memories came back
and he wrote to Ola Lindbäck:
I got to know him in a restaurant on Washington Avenue.
He owned a two-story house and rented out the upper floor.
Whether he was married I don't know. I seem to remember
that his wife had passed away. He was a quiet man, didn't
talk much about his life. Once when I took him home in
my car he told me that he came from Lappland. He liked
a few beers but I never saw him drunk. He was a powerful
man, weighed around 175 pounds, a bit dark in coloring,
and very quiet in his behavior. After I married and got a
home of my own I saw him only a couple of times. . . . he
also mentioned Hibbing and the mines there.
Johnson is unsure of the dates but believes it must have been
around 1929 to 1933 that he used to see Verner—or "The Lapp,"
the only name he knew him by.
64
Ola Lindbäck continued to correspond with the two emi­grants
who had met his grandfather. The 80-year-old Johnson
in particular has provided further details which leave no doubt
that the person he knew was identical with Verner Lindbäck
from Siknäs. This is shown, among other things, by what "The
Lapp" said about conditions in his native village.
In order to track down further facts Ola Lindbäck enlisted
the aid of the airline pilot, Carl-Werner Pettersson, who in the
fall of 1975 discussed on a Swedish television program his own
search for relatives in Sunrise, Minnesota. [See Carl-Werner
Pettersson, "From Brinkelid to Sunrise—A Modern Saga of
Discovery," S P H Q . , 25 (1974), 34-61 ED.] On a visit to Min­neapolis
in December 1975, Pettersson interviewed people and
drove around the area in question together with Robert Carl­son
and P. E. Johnson, who had never met each other previously.
When Robert Carlson met "The Lapp" in 1924, he lived in
a house on Washington Square, on Washington Avenue at the
corner of Seventh Street. He was then probably unemployed.
It was during Prohibition and there was some "moonshine" on
hand.
Bit by bit P. E. Johnson filled in the picture. He became ac­quainted
with "The Lapp" in 1929. The Depression had struck,
they were out of work, and like so many other Swedes they
hung out in the cafes on Cedar Avenue, Minneapolis' "Snoose
Boulevard." Verner Lindbäck owned a house, since torn down,
on East 18th Street, near 15th Avenue, and kept company with,
among others, a certain Bergkvist, who had been a clergyman
in Chicago and died some years ago. Their favorite saloon was
Juel's Place, a few blocks from Seventh and Washington. Both
"The Lapp's" house and the saloon thus lay not far from the
place where he was living when Robert Carlson had met him
in 1924.
There are naturally many rumors and loose bits of informa­tion
which Ola Lindbäck has come across in his search for his
grandfather. Acquaintances of P. E. Johnson's mentioned that
a John Larsson and his brother had known "The Lapp." Accord­ing
to John Larsson, "The Lapp" was supposed to have lived
with or been married to a woman of Indian background, "a
good-looking and cleanly woman." Johnson has also pointed
85
OLA LINDBÄCK
out that Verner Lindbäck was not the type to belong to any
church or society, but that he was a good man who generally
kept to himself. P. E. Johnson last met "The Lapp" in 1933
or 1934.
Thus far has Ola Lindbäck come with his detective work. He
has had help from many persons. One he mentions above all:
Faye Stipek, the daughter of Axel Wikström, who emigrated
86
from Roknäs, Piteå. He came into contact with her during a
visit to Seattle in the summer of 1975.
It is an immense effort that Ola Lindbäck has put into his
search for information about what happened to Verner Lind­bäck.
He has files filled with correspondence with public of­ficials,
institutions, and private individuals. But he feels that
now he has evidence that his grandfather was living as late as
the early 1930s in Minneapolis there must surely be persons
who could give definite information. Court records, telephone
catalogs, personal and property registers have thus far produced
no results.
During the early '30s Minneapolis was a city full of Swedes
and Verner Lindbäck, "The Lapp," hung out in the Swedish
areas. There must be others, besides Robert Carlsson and Peter
Edward Johnson, who knew him.
Ola Lindbäck has not given up. For Ida Lindbäck and her
six children in Siknäs her husband Verner's emigration to the
United States was a tragedy. Ola Lindbäck wants to know what
happened and he would be naturally grateful for further clues
or suggestions.
( T r a n s l a t e d by H. ARNOLD BARTON)
EDITOR'S NOTE
Ola Lindbäck is an electrical engineer, who in 1948-51 lived in Seattle,
Washington, and Anchorage, Alaska. His address is: Svampvägen 24, S-902
34 Umeå, Sweden.
67